Oh, so many things have happened after I have written the last post so I really struggle to remember everything… Ok, I will just mention the most important events then (you should be happy at this point – it saves you from reading all the unimportant stuff I have completely forgotten about!).
Basically the study time has finally arrived – we have lots of lab reports to submit, an essay to write (can you imagine? An essay for Molecular Biology – actually is more complicated than you may think – avoiding plagiarism when writing about the topic where everything has been already said before you even born can be a bit tricky) and do not forget that we absolutely must do some extra reading around the lecture material (I am not saying that everybody does but in principal…)
Obviously all of this does not stop me from having a great time here in London! And not only in London actually… We, poor Imperial College students, do not have any reading week (or in other words seven day of everything but reading) but if I really want to go to Scotland to see my ex-neighbour from Brighton a six-hour train journey does not make a significant difference especially if my new Bible (A2 Chemistry book looks pretty lonely and abandoned on the shelf now but I do not think I will ever be able to get rid of it) – Molecular Biology of the Cell by Alberts is accompanying me.
So on Friday afternoon straight after the Biological Chemistry tutorial I headed towards King’s Cross Station and at midnight I was already in Edinburgh giving a very strong hug to my dear friend. But if I have come that far do you think that we were going to sleep? I am sure you guessed correctly)
So as I was starving (as usual) we decided to order some Chinese food – following our old Brighton tradition. After half an hour search we found out that all the local deliveries were closed but we could actually go and grab some food by ourselves from a restaurant my friend had absolutely no idea about. But as we had no other choice we got out and my first tour around the Scottish capital has begun.
It was much warmer than I expected (almost the same as it was in London at the moment) and even though I had no idea what the city is about it felt strangely a bit like Brighton however dissimilar those cities might seem – one is in the south another in the north, different architecture, different people (I did not have many opportunities to speak to local people as most of those we were hanging around were Russian speakers but all Scottish people spoke pretty good and understandable English) and even different money (I was so shocked when I saw them for the first time and tried to spend them all in Edinburgh as still could not believe that people are going to accept them in London) – I felt at home there, almost like I have been there many times before – and this feeling is very similar to what I experience when I go back to Brighton. So this night I was just so happy to be in Edinburgh (and become even happier when we finally got some food!)
We went to bed at 5 in the morning but at 11 we already got up as I was just so enthusiastic about exploring this new to me city and my friend was just so desperate about getting a cup of coffee from our favorite Starbucks.
We then went for another tour, a bit more formal this time, around the city and my friend was showing me the main attractions – the central streets, numerous cathedrals, splendid university buildings and finally the Edinburgh castle.
We then visited the Museum of Illusions that was so much fun – together with all the kids and adults we were looking at various mirrors, moving pictures, solving mysteries of various objects and finally going to the “world famous” (at least they say so – I have never heard of it before) Camera Obscura – the principal behind it is pretty simple - through the hole in the roof at the top of the tower using a few powerful lenses you can actually see everything that happens in the city and one is able to do some funny things with people on streets. As we just did not have time to see everything I was very happy to have this little tour around the town and learn a few interesting facts.
During our walk we managed to buy costumes for the Halloween party that was to take place that night so after we had a traditional Scottish meal (haggis!!! Tastes much better than it looks or sounds) at a pub we went straight back to my friend’s place, dressed up and here we are – two angels – black and white.
I was obviously the good white one (how could it be different? I am just such a good girl!) Everyone liked our costumes and some of our friends had very funny ones as well (one of the boys dressed up like a female prostitute – and got lots of undesired attention by the end of the night when people stopped seeing it as a joke). There was a good crowd everywhere, the music was nice, we were surrounded by friends and even managed to take a few decent pictures …what else could we wish for?
The next morning it was raining heavily and one more time I realized how lucky I was as the weather was simply gorgeous on Saturday. We did not mind really just sitting and chatting with a cup of coffee and a few toasts as I had leave soon anyway. A long journey back home was ahead of me but with the Molecular Biology of the Cell in my bag I did not have a chance to become bored.
London was waiting for me as usual – for the rest of the week I was making all the possible efforts not to fall asleep on the lectures, attend the clubs and societies meetings where it was possible and Thursday was the Guy Fawkes Night! If you don’t know, it’s just one more reason to have a party and watch the fireworks).
We celebrated on a boat floating on a river Thames with UCL Investment Society. Cannot quite see the link between myself and the investment society? Well, my best friend who is now second year UCL student invited me along. It was real fun: unlimited champagne, nice company and gorgeous views of central London…but I guess I should mention here that we did not have a chance to see the fireworks themselves eventually!
But we decided to have a look at them on Saturday though! Bonfire and fireworks at Battersea Park were just awesome and the apple in caramel really made my evening.
So what happened next? Ha-ha, not telling you, wait for the next post!
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